Sustainable Land Management

Over 40 percent of the world is drylands, where about 2.3 billon people live in nearly 100 countries. It accounts for up to 44% of all the world's cultivated systems. Many people living in drylands depend directly upon a highly variable natural resource base for their livelihoods, and about half of all dryland inhabitants - one billion people - are poor and marginalized. This accounts for close to half of the world's poor.

The Drylands Development Centre (DDC) is a Global Policy Centre responsible for supporting UNDP's efforts towards sustainable and inclusive development in the drylands. UNDP-DDC adopts the Integrated Drylands Development Programme (IDDP) to help meet challenges faced by dryland populations in a holistic and strategic manner. The IDDP addresses three interlinked issues of importance to poverty eradication in the drylands within one integrated programme:

The IDDP is currently operational in 17 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and the Arab States as well as regional and international levels.

In Focus

17 June 2015: World Day to Combat Desertification (WDCD)

The focus of the 2015 WDCD is attainment of food security for all through sustainable food systems. With the slogan "No such thing as a free lunch. Invest in healthy soil", the 2015 observance calls for a change in our land use practices through smart agriculture and adaptation to changing climate, especially in the dry fragile parts of the world where food shortages are becoming more and more severe.